Thursday, June 12, 2008

Just Another Bit of Not-So-Cheery News

That would, undoubtedly, include Grace, though my sin was less about being a spendthrift and more about not being a saver.

The report says our parents (whom they designate as "the matures,"--I guess you know what that makes us!) were better savers than we, boomers. No surprise there. My parents were in much better financial shape at my age than I am. Of course, they were also smart enough not to have had five children. In addition their world was more financially circumscribed--by the standards of the small town they lived in, the state of their health, and their limited expectations.

The authors of the report list the solutions one would expect: work longer and retire later. These are both options I will be pursuing. The average age at retirement is 62.6. Health considerations aside, I would not consider retirement until age 67. As it is, my current plans are to retire at age 69.

The report does not mention the one resource I don't have, but any number of my boomer contemporaries do--parents who WERE good savers who will leave them sizable inheritances.

2 comments:

Grace-our parents, of the 'Great Depression' era, of course were better savers than us. What the heck was there to buy back then? There were only 3 american car mfgs, only 3 TV channels, two TV manufacturers, no airplanes or transcontinental travel like what we have today. Radio only broadcast on AM. Give me (and you) a break! An Ivy league education in 1960's at Georgetown University only costs $10,000 A YEAR!!!Stop listening to the media. We all did the best we could.'nuff said.

Cinzea, funny you should mention that. Elizabeth Warren writes, in one of her personal finance books, that our parents were never offered nor allowed to borrow on the kinds of loans or credit cards that we are. Who is to say they wouldn't have used it if they had the credit available.